The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday upheld a lower court's decision to block a Tennessee law barring abortions after the detection of a "fetal heartbeat."
Why it matters: The ban, which also prohibits abortions if the justification relates to race, gender, a Down syndrome or other medical diagnoses, is one of several restrictive abortion laws enacted in recent years.
Context: The measure was signed into law last year but faced a lawsuit from reproductive rights advocates shortly after. In July 2020, a lower court issued a preliminary injunction to prevent the law from taking effect.
- Worth noting: Doctors have challenged the use of the term "fetal heartbeat," saying the sound is actually manufactured by ultrasound machines that detect electrical activity.
What they're saying: The lower court's ruling "closely follows the precedents of our circuit and those of the Supreme Court," Judge Martha Craig Daughtrey wrote in the majority opinion for the three-judge panel....
- "Although this circuit’s recent and alarming decisions have broadened the extent to which the government may impede a person’s constitutional right to choose whether to carry a pregnancy to term, the law remains clear that if a regulation is a substantial obstacle to a woman seeking an abortion, it is invalid," Daughtrey wrote.
- Daughtrey added that that the vague statute could encourage "arbitrary enforcement." The state's failure to take other actions to prevent discrimination also "undercuts" any interest in equality or "preventing eugenics based on race and gender."
- "Any decision to overturn the district court’s finding of facts and well-reasoned decision would cast this court in the